{"id":903,"date":"2022-08-12T12:32:32","date_gmt":"2022-08-12T12:32:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland\/?p=903"},"modified":"2022-08-12T12:33:01","modified_gmt":"2022-08-12T12:33:01","slug":"the-rutland-vineyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pridemagazines.co.uk\/rutland-and-stamford\/food-and-drink\/the-rutland-vineyard\/08-2022","title":{"rendered":"The Rutland Vineyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

This month we\u2019ve discovered a stunning place to sit and take in the views. Tim & Zoe Beaver have created their Rutland vineyard near Ketton, and its tasting barn is a great place to relax and enjoy English wine, good coffee and homemade cakes!<\/h3>\n
\"Vines
Vines growing at The Rutland Vineyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I may have discovered the happiest place in Rutland & Stamford… or possibly the happiest place in whole of Britain. On a fairly warm Saturday, late afternoon, I arrive at Ketton\u2019s Rutland Vineyard and discover that I\u2019m not alone in recognising the joy of sitting in the tasting barn, or on its terrace, enjoying a glass of English wine whilst looking out over a panorama of farmland.<\/p>\n

Owners Tim & Zoe Beaver are no strangers\u00a0 to agriculture. Tim farms 1,400 acres. He\u2019s a third generation farmer, and around harvest time, he\u2019s usually to be found watching his cereal crops \u2013 wheat and barley \u2013 spilling out of a combine\u2019s auger.<\/p>\n

Farming is a happy life but with the level of mechanisation and fewer people on the farm these days, it\u2019s also a pretty lonesome pursuit, and in 2021, Tim fancied doing something a little more sociable.<\/p>\n

Attempting viticulture in Rutland is not without precedent. Local man John Atkinson had his \u2018MW\u2019 qualification officially conferred upon him by the Institute of Masters of Wine. A few years ago, he too attempted to produce grapes a short distance from today\u2019s Rutland Vineyard.<\/p>\n

The land available to John at the time was a little closer to sea level, and so less suitable, for vines, but Tim\u2019s land is pretty much perfect. So with Tim\u2019s soil and John\u2019s counsel, The Rutland Vineyard was planted in May 2021, some 13,500 vines with a further 3,000 waiting to be planted, stuck in a cold storage thanks to Brexit.<\/p>\n

Tim\u2019s soil is 160,000,000 years old, although thanks to his conscientious farming practices, it\u2019s in rude health for such a venerable age. Consisting of about half a metre of topsoil, digging down you soon reach the band of limestone \u2013 Blisworth around Ketton \u2013 which stretches from Lincoln right down to the Cotswolds.<\/p>\n

This geology means Tim can \u2018annoy\u2019 the vines sufficiently to make them force their roots down and really establish themselves. The farm\u2019s position about 70 metres above sea level, on the edge of a south-facing slope also means that cold air runs off and down the vineyard, protecting the vines from frost.<\/p>\n

Tim used a power harrow to prepare the land, before some German specialists arrived with machinery to plant the vines in a single day, with GPS precision ensuring each vine is a metre apart, in rows 2.2 metres across. Rows 1-48 are Bacchus grapes; 49-75 are Pinot Noir for the vineyard\u2019s sparkling wine; rows 76-93 are Ortega; rows 94-133 are Pinot Noir Precoce, with more planting to follow in 2023, and rows 134-151 and 152-169 are Pinot Meunier and Cabernet Noir.<\/p>\n

As is often the case in life and farming, the best things come to those who wait and Mother Nature refuses to be hurried. Grape vines must be established for about five years before they can yield decent wine.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s harvest won\u2019t make wine, and so organic material will be put back into the land to provide nutrients. October 2023\u2019s harvest will produce the vineyard\u2019s first wine in 2024, but with only about 40% of yield. That\u2019s not to say, though, that Tim & Zoe haven\u2019t already created their own wine.<\/p>\n

In the tasting barn you can enjoy the vineyard\u2019s white label wine with a choice of a Bacchus-based white, plus an unoaked Chardonnay,\u00a0 a ros\u00e9, a Pinot Noir-style red, and an English fizz which is Champagne in all but name thanks to the latter\u2019s protected geographic status.<\/p>\n

English wine has become very good over the past decade or so, and whilst that\u2019s something to be celebrated, it\u2019s a slightly bittersweet boast since the reason is climate change.<\/p>\n

The climate of the Champagne region has moved northwards meaning English wines are benefiting from the slightly warmer weather. Conditions will soon suit the productions of light reds, hence why Tim is keen to established his Pinot Noir vines.<\/p>\n

Already the sale of English wines from the tasting barn, plus a 1km walking trail, Six Pack wildlife trail, apiary and the chance to sit and gaze over that gorgeous farmland and enjoy a drink is ensuring that The Rutland Vineyard is very busy. It opens Wednesday to Saturday with vineyard tours available, plus good coffee, homemade cakes and freshly made doughnuts all on offer. Take along the Saturday papers (or Pride), a good book or a good friend.<\/p>\n

During our visit the wild flowers had peaked, but the sunflowers are just starting to come into their own. On Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th August, Tim & Zoe and the team will invite visitors to bring a picnic to the vineyard for a fee of \u00a310, which will go to this year\u2019s charity, Ketton Scouts. There\u2019s a sunflower pickery too where you can pay \u00a310 and take home some cheerful yellow flowers. Last year\u2019s charity sunflower event at the vineyard raised \u00a35,000 for Rutland Sailability, funding their new rigid inflatable rescue craft.<\/p>\n

To sit in the sunshine, enjoy English wine and raise money for a local charity…? Well, that\u2019s something to which we can definitely bring ourselves to raise a glass!<\/p>\n

Find Out More: The Rutland Vineyard is open Wednesday to Saturday, with a Picnic in the Vineyard and celebration of sunflowers on Saturday 27th and Sunday 28th August. You can also purchase wine from the tasting barn by the glass or to take home, visit Tasting Barn, Barrowden Road, Ketton, PE9 3RJ, see www.therutlandvineyard.com.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"The
The Rutland Vineyard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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